Tuesday 1 December 2026 | 12:30 pm – 1:10 pm
Italian Cultural Institute, Sydney
Join us for an Eatalian Talk with artist David Capra and Dr Silvia Michieli from the University of Queensland, exploring the vibrant world of Italian Memphis Design and the exhibition Memphis, Fairfield.
Founded in Milan in 1980 by designer Ettore Sottsass and a group of fellow designers and architects, the Memphis movement challenged traditional ideas of design with bold colours, geometric shapes, playful forms and unexpected combinations of materials. Rejecting the notion that objects should be purely functional, Memphis celebrated creativity, individuality and the expressive power of everyday things.
Drawing on her expertise in architecture and design history, Dr Silvia Michieli will share her knowledge of the Memphis movement, its origins, key ideas and lasting influence on contemporary design. Artist David Capra will offer a personal perspective, sharing insights into his Memphis-inspired collection and the ideas behind Memphis, Fairfield, which brings his colourful and eclectic domestic world into the gallery at Fairfield City Museum & Gallery.
Discover how this influential Italian design movement continues to inspire artists and designers, and how the objects we surround ourselves with can become a source of creativity and personal expression.
Speakers:
Dr Silvia Michieli is an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, as well as an architect and historian specialising in modern and postmodern architecture. Her research explores the international circulation of architectural ideas, with a particular focus on exchanges between Italy and Australia. She has authored and edited several books, including Paolo Portoghesi: Architecture between History, Politics and Media (2023). Her expertise will provide historical and cultural context for understanding the Memphis movement and its significance in the evolution of design.
David Capra is an artist known for his distinctive collaborations with his late dachshund, Teena. Their projects have included Eau de Wet Dogge, a fragrance promoted on the Nine Network’s Today show in 2016, and Teena’s Bathtime, launched at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia’s Jackson Bella Room in 2015.
In 2018, David and Teena presented The Long and Short of It: Life Lessons from Art-Dog Teena to an audience of 5,000 at TEDxSydney. The following year, they collaborated with Kaldor Public Art Projects on a series of educational videos and a Kaldor Studio project at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. David’s curatorial work includes Che Cosa at Wollongong City Gallery in 2015. In 2005, he received the Piemontesi nel Mondo award.
Event details
Date: Tuesday 1 December 2026
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:10 pm
Venue: Italian Cultural Institute, Sydney
Free registrations soon available on our Eventbrite profile
Photo Felipe Olivares
